


Baking 101

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Fraxus [31]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Baking, Birthday, Birthday Cake, Dubious Ingredients, Established Relationship, Fluff, Love, M/M, kitchen disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-12 17:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17472026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Laxus' attempt to surprise Freed with a birthday cake end in disaster, but maybe not if it means an afternoon spent with his partner.





	Baking 101

 

    Freed frowned as he finally dragged his attention away from his book, sniffing the air with a concerned frown. At first, he had thought that he was imagining it, but now he was sure that he could smell smoke in the air. His book slipped from suddenly nerveless fingers as it occurred to him that he hadn’t heard anything from Laxus for a while, he had assumed that the Dragon-slayer was trying to give him peace and quiet to enjoy the book that he had given him that morning. A book that he had been looking for with months, and that he had practically run off to read after kissing the Dragon-slayer in thanks. Now though the book lay abandoned on the bed as he shot for the door, all thoughts now focused on his partner.

    The smell of smoke intensified as he hurried down the stairs, but it wasn’t enough to make him think that the house was on fire, plus he was reasonably sure that he would have been able to detect flames by now. Hearing cursing and clanging from the kitchen he dashed in that direction, only to come up short at the sight that met his eyes.

   Laxus was stood by the sink, gingerly holding onto what looked like it had once been a baking tin, smoke rising from the blackened mess inside it as he ran water over it. The kitchen window had been flung wide open, and the sideboard and floor were covered in a mess of flour, chocolate and what looked like egg and Freed grimaced at the state of it. The kitchen had been spotless that morning, and he was struggling to comprehend how the Lightning mage could have made this much mess in such a short period of time, especially when he was usually at least competent in the kitchen.

“What happened?” He asked softly, starting when Laxus jolted at his voice having apparently been too distracted to notice his arrival, and he frowned as caught the odd expression on his partner’s face. He looked like he was torn halfway between guilt, disappointment and irritation, and Freed was slightly more cautious as he stepped further into the room.  “Laxus?”

“I…” Laxus hesitated for a moment, and Freed was stunned to see a hint of a blush creeping into the Dragon-slayer’s cheeks just before the blond ducked his head, voice dropping to a low mumble as he admitted quietly. “I was trying to make a cake…”

“A cake?” Freed echoed, wondering if he had misheard. He couldn’t remember Laxus ever offering to help him bake before, let alone attempting to do it himself, which would explain the mess around them at the moment. _But why?_      

“It’s your birthday, I didn’t just want to give you a book,” Laxus said gruffly and Freed blinked, and his expression softened, and he smiled up at the Dragon-slayer, warmth suffusing his chest as he realised that this was all for his sake, even if he could have done without the mess. Still, he wasn’t going to let Laxus get away with sounding even remotely guilty for just giving him a book. Especially that one, as he knew for a fact that it must have taken Laxus forever to track it down and that it probably hadn’t been cheap and he closed the distance between them, reaching out to lay a hand on his mate’s arm as he asked softly.

“I was delighted with the book you know?”

“I know, but…” Laxus grumbled before trailing off, glancing at the hand resting on his arm before sighing and tilting his head to the cake tin he was holding.  “It doesn’t matter now…” Freed followed his gaze and had to fight back a snicker, the poor tin was a lost cause, and he didn’t want to hazard a guess at how the mess that had once been cake mix would’ve turned out. Especially when he glanced around and spotted some ingredients that definitely weren’t for cakes were also open on the counter. _Oh dear…_ Still, he could see that Laxus was generally disappointed with his failure, and he wasn’t going to leave it like that, and he squeezed the blond’s arms and waited patiently for Laxus to glance at him.

“How about we tidy up this mess and then I’ll help you make another one?”

“But it’s your birthday, and you were reading,” Laxus protested at once, and Freed had to bite back a sigh before smiling at the Dragon-slayer.

“Exactly,” he whispered, reaching up to press a gentle kiss to Laxus’s cheek, chuckling as he found a trace of cake mix and licking it off playfully, somehow managing not to grimace as he realised that whatever Laxus had concocted really wouldn’t have turned out well. _It’s probably a good thing it burnt,_ he thought privately, not allowing his smile to falter as he snaked his arms around Laxus from behind and rested his head against the Dragon-slayer’s back. “It’s my birthday, and I want to spend it with you.” He felt the slight jolt that met his words, and he couldn’t resist adding playfully. “You can always feed it to me later while I read some more.”

“Freed…” Laxus groaned, well aware that there was no way he wouldn’t be able to deny the other man when he was like this, not that he really minded. He had been perfectly willing to let the Rune mage spend the rest of the day curled up with his book, but if he were honest he would much rather spend the day with his mate, and from the smirk, he could feel against his back, the Rune mage was fully aware of that fact.

“So?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” he admitted after a moment, before glancing down at the mess in his hands and glancing over his shoulder at Freed.  “Er…?”

“I think you’re probably better throwing it all in the bin,” Freed replied with a chuckle, ignoring the soft grumble as Laxus pulled himself out of his arms and headed for the bin. Biting his lip to stop himself from laughing, even more, Freed and tried to work out where to begin on the clean-up, deciding that he really didn’t want to know why Laxus had half of the herbs and spices out or the jar of gherkins that Bickslow seemed to eat by the boatload.

_Baking 101 it is,_ he thought with a smile as he grabbed a cloth and began to wipe up the sticky mess coating most of the counter, deciding that there were far worse ways to spend his birthday when Laxus reappeared a moment later, stealing the cloth from him with a kiss and taking over the cleanup. _Yes, there are definitely worse ways to spend my birthday…_

 


End file.
